So Madison.com recently ran a couple of citizen columns on the situation in Madison’s Meadowood neighborhood, spurred on by Ace Hardware abandoning the neighborhood. Since I’ve commented on the issue before, here’s my thoughts on the two columns:

Not a bad column, but I don’t see how it will directly address crime issues. Sure, it’s good when neighbors can count on each other and look out for each other, but I just don’t think that will get the job done.

Mr. Blaska takes a predictable conservative line which is that whenever there is a crisis, there should be cuts made to social programs. Cutting Section 8 housing vouchers won’t do anything but make more people homeless.

See, the real problem with fixing issues in Meadowood is that things that will help the neighborhood like neighborhood police officers, extra outreach to potentially troubled teens, and prosecution of troublemakers costs money. And with the Scott Walker budget in effect, no money is coming.

The departures will put the office back at 26.85 full-time equivalent assistant and deputy district attorneys, who are state employees. That’s the maximum allowed by state funding, plus one grant-funded position, prosecuting serious traffic crashes, that will continue, Ozanne said. That’s about what the office had back in 1985, and state funding has not increased to allow hiring of more prosecutors.

Staffing…

…an issue that has arisen time and again over the years and has never gone away. Dane County’s population has increased from about 340,000 in 1985 to more than 488,000 at the 2010 census, but the state-funded portion of the DA’s staff remains stuck at 25.85 full-time equivalent prosecutors, not counting Ozanne.